It’s bad when an athlete gets in trouble. When you think about the missed opportunities, blown chances and spoiled dreams that come with bad decisions it’s tragic.
The number of athletes- high school, college and professional – that have ruined their careers and sometimes even lives over illegal activities and wrong moves is in the hundreds.
It’s terrible when you hear about the starting linebacker that was arrested on a sexual assault charge or the power forward that was popped for robbery. You hate to hear about the pitcher that has a 98 mile per hour fastball that is busted for doing 98 mph in his Porsche while under the influence.
But usually the day after you hear about the sins of your favorite player, you hear every excuse known to man from the offender’s lawyer, coach, teammate, or even parent.
You hear about how he was gong through a difficult divorce or frustrated with contract negotiations. You read about how he is suffering from depression or has been under a lot of stress. We hear everything except for the fact that he was wrong, remorseful and should suffer the consequences.
That’s why it was refreshing to turn on the radio Friday morning and listen to former Laker player and current Laker announcer Mychal Thompson on ESPN 710 talking about how the latest player to get arrested should suffer the severest of consequences. He talked about how the college player let down his fans, his teammates, his coach, and the whole school by being arrested for possession of marijuana the previous night after his basketball game.
He said the player should be humiliated, embarrassed and feel like a complete failure. When Thompson was asked what he would do if he was the coach of the arrested player, he hesitated and then said he would suspend him for the rest of the year.
Even when another ESPN host, Max Kellerman, joins the conversation and talks about weed not being a big deal, Thompson doesn’t relent.
“There has to be repercussions to his actions,” Thompson said.
What made the conversation even more compelling was that the player Thompson was talking about was his son Klay. Klay Thompson of Washington State, the leading scorer in the PAC 10, was arrested late Thursday night for possession of 1.95 grams of marijuana after leading his Cougars to a home win over USC earlier that night.
Klay’s teammate, guard Reggie Moore, was charged with possession of weed earlier in the year.
“We talked about how stupid he was. I thought he understood,” Thompson said. “I thought he would be strong.”
Thompson doesn’t subscribe to the theory of letting kids have their privacy.
“Check their drawers, their wallets,” he said.
Thompson talks openly on the show about how Klay called him early in the morning to let him know what happened but now won’t take his phone calls.
“He’s talking to everybody else but he’s avoiding me. I’ll call him again tonight. But this time I’ll use Kobe’s phone so he’ll take the call and then I’ll be on the line,” Thompson says.
Son or no son, Thompson is unforgiving. When asked if he thinks Klay is listening, Thompson says he hopes so. He says that he hopes that Klay is embarrassed and ashamed of how he let everybody down.
After Klay was arrested he was suspended by Washington State for the next game against UCLA.
“He’s supposed to be a leader. I thought he was better than this,” Thompson says to the listening audience. “He should walk around with a scarlet ‘M’ on his forehead. It’s a huge mistake.”
Son or no not Thompson made no excuses. He didn’t try to hide from it or run away. He didn’t defend, or place blame on anybody else.
It made for great radio. For Thompson it was a slam dunk.
That’s my principle.
Tim can be reached at tim@midvalleysports.com.
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